Differentiate between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission.?
cengage Nuclear fission is the process used in the production of nuclear power. Fission involves splitting the nucleus of a heavy atom, such as uranium. This yields two or more lighter nuclei and a large amount of energy. Fusion, on the other hand, is the combination of two hydrogen nuclei into one helium nucleus, under conditions of extreme heat and pressure. Fusion is the process by which energy is created in the sun. While the hydrogen bomb relies on fusion, fusion has not yet been used in the production of nuclear power. The latter fact is primarily because it is extremely expensive to create the conditions necessary to begin a fusion reaction. A process called "cold fusion," which does not require heat, is currently in the experimental stages.
What is the difference between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission?
Nuclear FissionNuclear fission is the process by which a very heavy, unstable nuclei decays into two or more smaller nucleiAn unstable form of Uranium, Uranium-235, decays when it exceeds critical mass. A single neutron added to the nucleus causes it to break into two parts, resulting in two smaller nuclei, more neutrons and of course one, two or all three forms of radiation (Alpha, Beta and Gamma). The expelled neutrons then go into the nuclei of adjacent U-235 atoms, causing them to split in two. This is chain reaction releases huge amounts of energy, as the masses of the products is slightly less than that of the reactants. Although the mass may seem insignificantly small, Einstein’s equation shows E=MC(^2) Meaning that a very small mass is equal to a lot of energyFission is mainly used to power nuclear power plants and was used in the primary atomic bombs.Nuclear FusionNuclear fusion on the other hand is a completely different story. Nuclear fusion is the joining of two light nuclei, to form a single heavy nuclei. This may sound easy, but remember that nuclei contain protons, protons are positively charged and they would never come close to each other. To do this you need extremely high temperatures and pressure ( like that in the core of our Sun ). Hydrogen isotopes fuse together to form helium. Sun fuses 620 million metric tons of hydrogen each second. The products are neutrinos, positrons and gamma rays. Photons and heat are also generatedNuclear fusion, as mentioned before, requires extreme conditions in order to overcome the repulsion between the protons. Such conditions cannot be mimicked at safe scales on Earth.Fusion is used in hydrogen bombs, where the extreme temperatures are initially reached by detonating a primary fission device.
What is the difference between nuclear fission, fusion, and plasma, in nuclear engineering challenges?
In general, small atomic nuclei need a lot of binding energy to hold them together (even hydrogen, with the three quarks that make up its proton); and so do big atomic nuclei (since the component parts are either electrically neutral or positively charged, and wanting to repel each other).If you can split (fission) a big atomic nucleus (uranium, for example) into two smaller nuclei (barium plus krypton, for example) the two products don't need as much binding energy as the original. The surplus energy is released as kinetic energy... with lots of fast moving neutrons (since not so many of these are needed in the two new nuclei, either). These can be trapped in a water jacket, where the water is turned to steam, to turn a turbine, to generate electricity.Similarly, if you fuse two small nuclei (two isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium, for example) to make a bigger nucleus (helium in this case, plus a spare neutron), the same... less binding energy is required by the product nucleus, and the surplus manifests itself as kinetic energy (of both the helium nucleus, but mostly in the spare neutron). So, again, you can heat water to generate steam, and thence electricity.The problem with the latter idea, though, is that the two small nuclei are electrically positive, and so repel each other, so do not want to come close enough to fuse together. Our only answer to this is to heat them up to such a temperature that they are moving so fast that they don't have time to veer away from each other. At these temperatures (150 million degrees C) the hydrogen isotopes are no longer in gaseous form, but in plasma form.There is nothing mystical about a plasma. It is just a gas in which the nuclei and their electrons are stripped apart, and mingling amorphously together in the super-hot gas. It happens at relatively low temperatures (10s of thousand degrees C), even in such things a candle flames, lightning bolts, and fluorescent light tubes.
What's the difference between Nuclear Fission and Radioactive decay?
They are both forms of the same process, nuclear fission is usually referred to as the chain reaction created when when two unstable masses are held in close proximity for a split second creating what is known as a critical mass, Hugh amounts of energy are released. Radioactivity is the natural decaying of an atom that is unstable because of a large surplus of neutrons in it's nucleus, radioactive energy is released as individual neutrons are ejected from the nucleus.
What is the difference between nuclear fission and radioactive decay?
All nuclei heavier than the iron group and some nuclei lighter than the iron group are unstable.Radioactive decay is a general term describing a nuclear reaction that occurs in an isolated and unstable nucleus, whereby that nucleus is transformed into another nucleus or nuclei, generally with the emission of some ionizing radiation. An unstable nucleus is said to decay radioactively.There are various kinds of radioactive decay, various modes. The first to be discovered and still the most commonly known are alpha, beta and gamma decays.Fission is a radioactive decay mode that is only common in quite heavy nuclei. Especially if it happens spontaneously, fission is really just a special mode of radioactive decay, in which a large nucleus splits into one or more fragments. Most often in spontaneous fission there are two nuclear fragments produced, one larger and one smaller, accompanied by the emission of a variable number of neutrons, both prompt and delayed. Though it is rarely observed, cluster fission is also possible, in which a large nucleus splits into three or more nuclear fragments.Fission in some ways is related to alpha particle decay; both are driven by the Coulomb repulsion of the many protons in a large nucleus, which eventually becomes too great for the strong nuclear force to overcome.The Coulomb energy of an unstable nucleus can be reduced by reducing the nuclear charge. In alpha decays this happens by a tunneling mechanism. In fission, the nucleus is unstable against a collective deformation of its shape in which two large centers of charge separate spatially from each other and eventually the neck pinches off. The combination of the two fragments can be more bound than the initial nucleus was.
How can I differentiate between artificial transmutation and nuclear fusion?
Artificial transmutation, if I understand what you mean by the term, is a technology of transmutation of specific atomic nuclei to other kinds of nuclei by inducing nuclear reactions on them in a controlled environment. It is typically performed by bombarding the material with energetic protons or neutrons. The most important application of it is transmutation of hazardous long-lived nuclear waste into short-lived nuclei to avoid the concerns of extremely long storage. The only thing that makes transmutation “artificial” is that it is induced and controlled by humans. The reactions in question are perfectly natural in the sense that they obey the laws of nature regarding the nuclear reactions. The nuclear reactions in a typical transmutation unit are mostly spallation and subsequent fission. There will rarely be any fusion.Nuclear fusion, on the other hand, is not a technology, but a kind of nuclear reaction, where two nuclei join and form a third, heavier nucleus. Broadly speaking, it is also a kind of “transmutation”, just as any other nuclear reaction is, because it transforms certain types of nuclei into other types. Fusion can also be “artificial”, or better said, induced and controlled by humans. But fusion occurs quite often spontaneously in the nature, for example in stars, where it is the main source of energy.I hope this helps.
What is the diffrence between fission and fussion?
If a large nucleus is split apart (fission), generous amounts of energy can be liberated. Small nuclei can also be combined (fusion) with an accompanying release of energy. Using this strong force that holds the nucleus together to produce energy is essentially what the field of nuclear power generation is about.